The Terrible Truth of Valentine’s Day

When Sierra Greenwood, Hardin-Simmons University’s coordinator for academic support and retention, was summoned from her office in Moody Center to the second floor reception area, she did not know quite what to expect.

A small crowd of Student Life co-workers, having received an email clueing them in about the surprise event, had gathered to watch. Out of the elevator stepped five men with white shirts, red bowties, red suspenders, and a pitch pipe. The Memory Men Chorus of Abilene had arrived with a Valentine’s Day rendition of “Let Me Call you Sweetheart.”

As you might expect, behind the surprise and the group email was Sierra’s husband, Grant Greenwood, previously a long-time admissions advisor at HSU.

Among those gathered to watch the surprise: Caleb Steed, director of residence life; Stacy Martin, associate dean of student engagement; Randa Burnett, residence director of Behrens Hall; and Diana Salinas, director of career services. All wondered what Sierra had gotten Grant for Valentine’s Day.

Now, the terrible truth was to be unveiled.

Answering honestly, Sierra admitted that she was perhaps a bit frugal; for Grant, she had found an unused Happy Birthday card. “I scratched out ‘Birthday’ and wrote in ‘Valentine’s Day,’” she said.